Heard At the Men’s Group Meeting Friday

Someone mentioned this during the men’s group from church on Friday morning, and I just had to share it.

My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism. Suppose someone comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor person in filthy old clothes also comes in. If you show special attention to the one wearing fine clothes and say, “Here’s a good seat for you,” but say to the one who is poor, “You stand there” or “Sit on the floor by my feet,” have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?  Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court? Are they not the ones who are blaspheming the noble name of him to whom you belong? (James 2:1-7 TNIV)

But we must be careful not to apply what is here said to the common assemblies for worship; for in these certainly there may be appointed different places of persons according to their rank and circumstances, without sin. – Matthew Henry

Way to read your Bible, buddy.

What Would Christ Think of Black Friday?

This is a passage from the email newsletter I get from a United Church of God (yes, that is that heretical group that brought us the likes of Herbert W. Armstrong) publication called “Good News Magazine.”  They have some pretty nutty ideas about some stuff, but sometimes they say some things that are so right on that I have to stop and listen.  This isn’t the whole of the newsletter.  I stop before they go into their rant about how all holidays are pagan in nature and ways the devil has deceived us into worshiping him when we should be worshiping God.  Still, though, it is hard to argue with what Clyde Kilough is saying here.

A Prayer to Destroy Obama?

In a recent article on the Sojourner’s blog, Diana Butler Bass responds to Psalm 109:8 in light of a recent bumper sticker campaign using the Psalm as a prayer about President Obama.  Psalm 109:8 reads as follows:

May his days be few; may another take his place of leadership.

More Thoughts on Tobit and the Deuterocanonical Scriptures

I, Tobit, walked in the ways of truth and righteousness all the days of my life.  I performed many acts of charity for my kindred and my people who had gone with me in exile to Ninevah in the land of the Assyrians. (Tobit 1:3 NRSV)

What we have in Tobit is the story of a gentleman who has been faithful all of his life.  He was raised a Jew, became a Jew when he reached adult age, and remained a Jew despite any trials that he may have encountered.  We will talk about how faithful he was in a moment.  For now, let it suffice to say that we have a story about a very faithful, God-fearing man.

Before we go any further, I want to make a couple of things clear.

There’s Something Missing From Our Bibles

This past week, my small group spent most of the time discussing Philippians 1:6.  I came away thinking that the basic idea of the verse is that, no matter what may be happening, God is not finished with you yet.  The verse, a much over-quoted one, says it this way:

And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. (ESV)

We got to talking about some Scriptural analogies for this, things like Job and some personal life experiences and I got to thinking about a little story about a man named Tobit.

Personal Statement of Faith

I was asked by a church I have applied at for a youth minister position to give them a statement of faith.  So, I’ve decided to share that here for your enjoyment and discussion.

I Think John Piper Is Wrong

I love the writings of John Piper.  Simply love them.  I have rarely found something that I disagree with.  My issues, when I have them, tend to be in matters of how he says something or some of the implications in how he says things.  But rarely do I have an issue with him in matters of theology.  Until recently.

Nothing New

One of the prerequisites for being involved with, and even becoming a member of, the church that my family has started attending is being a part of a small group.  This is a pretty common idea in the modern church, and one which I am glad has become so normal.  The idea of a church calling themselves a “church of small groups,” while cliche, is something that I applaud.  I think it more truly embodies the goal that the early church had in mind than the push to be bigger and more cutting edge and state-of-the-art that was so popular a few years back.

So, I got involved in a small group.

Moving Mountains

As my wife and I have been reading through William Barclay’s commentary on the Gospel of Mark, we have found a lot of interesting things, most of which occur within his comments on various passages of Scripture.  But the other day, I noticed something that he did in his own translation of the passage that seemed to me to drastically change what Jesus was saying.  It was something that I actually had to do some further study myself on to make sure that what I was seeing was actually there.

Book Review: The Bible – A Biography

Generally speaking, your typical Conservative Christian doesn’t think of Karen Armstrong when seeking a picture of modern biblical scholarship.  Interestingly enough, they probably should.  Your most Conservative Christians interested in any form of scholarship are Calvinists, and, according to Karen Armstrong,

Calvin was convinced that the Bible had been written for simple, unlettered people and had been stolen from them by the scholars.  But he realized that they would need guidance.  Preachers must be well read in rabbinical and patristic exegesis and acquainted with contemporary scholarship. They must always see a biblical passage in its original context but at the same time they must make the Bible relevant to the daily needs of their congregations.
(Karen Armstrong.  The Bible: A Biography.  New York, NY: Atlantic Monthly Press.  2007.  165-166. Emphasis mine.)

Karen Armstrong is definitely familiar with contemporary biblical scholarship, and this is one of the things that makes The Bible: A Biography such an interesting and useful read, especially for the conservative Christian.